Um, blogging break? What blogging break? Of course, I said I’m taking a blogging break, and now here I am posting a full-fledged block tutorial. You knew I couldn’t stay away, didn’t you?

But June is my month as quilter for the Love Circle of Do. Good Stitches, and I changed my plan for the quilt at the last minute, and the new plan requires a block tutorial … and here we are. I’m calling this the “Hexing Around” block. Enjoy, whether you are in the Love Circle or not.

Hexing Around Block
This 12.5″ square log-cabin-style hexagon block is fun and easy to piece.

1. First, download my template for the center hexagon here. Click the printer icon in the upper left corner of the screen to print it, or download the original. In the printer dialogue box that comes up, be sure to un-click the box that says “Fit to Page.” This is very important for the hexagon to print at the correct size! When printed at actual size, the hexagon should be 2.75″ high (from flat edge to flat edge).

UPDATED 2/24/14:I think somebody must have just linked to this (rather old) tutorial, because suddenly I’m being inundated with requests for people to email me this template. You guys, I apologize, but I can’t spend all day individually emailing this template to everybody. Google Docs works, I promise. I just tried it myself and very easily printed it out. Click the link above, and then find the little printer icon in the upper left corner. Then, when the printer dialogue box comes up, just un-click “Fit to Page.” Thank you!

2. Use the template to cut out a hexagon for the center of your block. The template includes seam allowance, so no need to add for that.

3. Now cut 1.5″ wide strips for each side of your center hexie. Sew two of the strips onto opposite sides of your hexie, as shown. Press seams open.

4. Use the 60-degree angle mark on your ruler to trim the ends of the pieces you just added. Line up the 60-degree angle line with the seam opposite the strip you’re trimming.

5. When you’re done trimming the ends, you should have a unit that looks like this.

6. Add two more strips to opposite edges of the center hexagon.

7. Trim the ends of these strips by matching up the 1.25″ vertical line on your ruler with the seam that runs parallel to the edge you want to trim, and the 60-degree angle mark should line up with the raw edge of the unit, as shown.

8. When you’re done trimming, it should look like this.

9. Add your final two strips to opposite sides of the hexagon.

10. Again, trim the ends of the strips in the same way you did the previous two strips. Line up 1.25″ mark with a parallel seam, and the 60-degree line with a raw edge of the block.

11. Now your hexagon should look like this, with one complete round of “logs.”

12. Cut another set of 1.5″ strips and follow the steps above to sew another round of logs around your hexagon, in the same manner as the first.

13. Continue adding logs to make two more rounds. Your completed hexagon should be no more than 12.5″ wide, from point to point. If it’s more than 12.5″, go ahead and trim around the outer edge to bring it down to size. If it’s a little less than 12.5″ wide, that’s okay.

14. From your background fabric (I’m using solid white), cut two 5″ x 7″ rectangles. Now cut a diagonal line through each rectangle, like so.

15. Sew the background triangles onto the corners of your hexagon, as shown. The triangles will be larger than what you need, but I found it easier to make them too big and then trim down to nice 90-degree corners. Add triangles to all four corners.

16. Trim your block so that it measures 12.5″ wide by 11″ high. (There should be at least .25″ of white background at its narrowest point along each side of the block.)

17. Add 1.5″ strips to the top and bottom of your block and trim to 12.5″ square.

Thank you, ladies of the Love Circle! Now I’m going back into hiding until Thursday as planned, but I will be reachable by email if you have questions or problems with the block. Have a great holiday.

P.S. In case you’re dying for an update on the potty training … well, it’s going. That’s about the best I can say at this point. : )

Thanks so much for this information. I inherited a box full of the hexagons from my mother, but I had no idea how to put them together to make a quilt. Just add triangles! See, I know nothing about quilting and have no imagination, lol.

Hi. I just found your tutorial and made this hexie block today with a Fig Tree jellyroll in Tapestry. It turned out great – a little lopsided (I think I made a wrong cut somewhere) but it will look great on my sofa pillow. Thanks so much for the tutorial. You made it seem really straightforward and easy and took a lot of the fear out of it. And I'm new to quilting so that's saying a lot. You do beautiful works of art. Thanks for sharing!

At that age he certainly has the physical ability to be using the toilet. Try positive reinforcement. Don' t reallt see how this differs from bribery, but a single M&M or Skittle when the desired outcome is obtained may work wonders. Not every time (remember Pavlov's dogs), but often enough to keep interest up. Effusive praise the rest of the time and little to no attention at "bad" outcomes. Good luck.

Not sure if my first message went through — I just found your tutorial and would love to give it a try. I could not print out the hexie template. Would you please send it to me via email? My email address is w7sue@comcast.net

And, you can thank Bonnie Hunter for this showing up on Facebook today when I checked in. Gotta love that lady!

Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville.com put your link on FB-that's probably why you are getting so many hits. I bought some precut hexies by Moda and I will try it with those- so very cute and fun. Thanks for sharing!

Just a quick note. I was able to print directions for block with no problem but unable to print template because no little printer in upper left corner. Fortunately you gave desired hexagon measurement so I'm off to make a template and try the block. You were correct that this was recently featured as it was on Quiltville site.

This tutorial is brilliant! It's just what I've been searching for…I want to make a large hexagon pieced medallion (w/squared corners) for the center of my jelly roll strip quilt (just to be different). This should allow me to easily join the strata jelly strips to the center medallion. Thank you for taking the time (with all the know-how)to post this tutorial. Lee, you are wonderful! 🙂

I came here (AGAIN!) from a link to your hexagon tutorial. Then I saw your PS at the bottom about potty training. My baby boy just turned 39 in April and my baby girl (that's all) turns 37 in August, so I thought I was through with potty training. My son moved back in with me in the fall. Then his daughter's mother ended up in jail, so he's trying to get full custody. So, now she is living with, also. I don't want to be changing diapers, again, ever! So, I still had the potty chair I decided to work on that since she had already started once. My son works crazy hours and isn't ready to work on it. She'll tell me sometimes and never tells him. So, I feels as if I'm the only one working on it. I'm a cancer survivor and just had a biopsy to be sure it has not returned, so I DO NOT want to be changing diapers. So, I'm almost to an impasse where he can change her when he's home and I'll just endure the odor. I have her alone about 14 hours S, S, and M and 6 hours T and Th. I am disabled and wasn't planning on this. Then a week after my surgery (which was more than a biopsy), his ten year old son came to us for the summer, if not longer. So, I wish I could say potty training is going. Hopefully when he gets full custody, he'll be able to get some help with day care. Then I hope to quilt. I haven't touched any piecing in over two years. I need a break for me. Thanks for the block pattern. I think it would make some great quilts for older children. That's been on the hearts of the ladies in my quilt group.

Because your blog includes the ability to share this pattern via a multitude of forums, I am assuming that it is okay to share with our closed group of quilters who have gotten together to share blocks, teach each other new tricks and encourage those who are struggling. If this is not okay, please let me know. Thanks

That is totally fine, Sandra, I love when people share links to my site, but thank you for asking! Just please make sure you share only the link to my website, so that people visit my site for the instructions, rather than removing any content from my site and sharing that. Enjoy!